With the Wunderlist acquisition, Microsoft now owns three of
the most important apps on my iPhone's home screen: Sunrise (the
best calendar app), Outlook (formerly known as Acompli, which is
the best email app), and Wunderlist (the best app for managing
to-do lists and other tasks).

Wunderlist works across all major mobile
platforms.Wunderlist/YouTube

Microsoft isn't buying buzzy social networking apps or games.
It's buying great productivity apps that people love. But more
important than that, Microsoft is buying apps that are
better at performing the same core functions as Apple's preloaded
iPhone apps. For example, the closest thing Apple has to
Wunderlist is the Reminders app, which is far too simple and
lacks a lot of the features that makes a to-do list app great.
Same goes for Apple Mail and Apple Calendar.

There's a better alternative for every Apple-made app, and
Microsoft is snapping them up one by one.

Microsoft
altered its mission last year to make people more
productive no matter what device they use. Part of that process
is making sure it has great apps on your home screen, even if
those apps were originally made by third parties. And so far,
it's picking nothing but winners.